Press release

Newshook: Vedanta AGM
Endangered communities challenge UK mining giant 

New Delhi, 31 July, 2007: Leaders from indigenous groups in Orissa, India, will travel to London this week to tell how their way of life is under threat from mining giant Vedanta Resources.

Local people allege that the company has forcibly removed communities from their homes, damaged local forests and are destroying a whole culture and way of life.

Phulame Majhi, a community leader from Jaganathpur village in Orissa, said “We will not lose our homes and livelihoods without a fight. Vedanta needs to know that they cannot walk all over people like this. We have travelled thousands of miles to tell Vedanta that they are not welcome in Orissa.”

The visit coincides with the launch of a new ActionAid report on the operation.

Bratindi Jena of ActionAid said “This really is a matter of life or death for the people living in the path of the Vedanta juggernaut. Our government needs to come down on the side of the people here and not sign away our future.”

The communities that ActionAid works with in Orissa allege:

• Local communities have been forced from their villages under duress, and moved to a concrete compound completely unsuited to the needs of indigenous families. Contact with the outside world is closely monitored and controlled. 

• People living nearby have lost land to the mining operation, and face serious threats to their water supplies. They are now finding it hard to grow enough food to feed their families, and this situation is set to get worse.
• Highly endangered tribes living in the area say their whole way of life is threatened by the development of the mine on land they consider sacred. They say ‘if we go somewhere else we will die’.

The Indian Supreme Court is due to consider the legality of Vedanta’s operation next Wednesday, 9 August <HEARING NOW POSTPONED TO 17 AUGUST>. ActionAid is supporting local campaigners in calling for:

An immediate end to Vedanta’s refinery operation in the area, and cancellation of plans to open the mine.

The Indian Government to recognise and protect the constitutional rights of traditional forest dwellers to remain on their ancestral lands.

Notes:

• Stills and moving images and copies of the report are available on request. 

• To download the report ‘ Vedanta Cares? Busting the myths about Vedanta’s operation in Lanjigarh, India’ 

ENDS